By Polly Raymond, 23 February 1999 00:10
NEWS Liberal Democrat MEP, Graham Watson will this week urge his fellow European Parliament members to reverse their decision to ban Web caching. Watson will travel to Brussels in a bid to drive home the serious implications of the ban in regard to the future development of the Internet and ecommerce in Europe. He said: "I will be talking to my colleagues to point out how important it is that we allow the Internet to develop. It is in many ways a new, unregulated area of commerce, business and social integration, so it's important that we get it right." Watson also revealed plans to get the UK government involved in the debate. "It's important that everyone here understands just what is at stake and that we come up with an effective agreement," he said. Last week, Watson launched his crusade to overturn the ban - which he claims essentially makes all Net activity illegal and could cripple ecommerce in Europe - in a letter to European Commissioner, Martin Bangemann. But Silicon.com revealed last week that Bangemann - the industry commissioner and responsible for the Internet industry - said the issue was not within his remit. His spokesman said the plea will be forwarded to Commissioner Mario Monti, who is responsible for copyright. Watson said he will try to get both Commissioners involved in the campaign. The original proposal was passed by MEPs earlier this month as part of the Copyright in the Information Society Bill.
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